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Quality of preimplantation embryos recovered in vivo from dairy cows in relation to their body condition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2015

A.V. Makarevich ,
L. Stádník ,
E. Kubovičová ,
Z. Hegedüšová ,
R. Holásek ,
F. Louda ,
J. Beran  and
M. Nejdlová
A.V. Makarevich*
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, Hlohovecká 2, 951 41 Lužianky near Nitra, Slovak Republic. National Agricultural and Food Centre, Research Institute of Animal Production Nitra, 951 41 Lužianky near Nitra, Slovak Republic.
L. Stádník
Affiliation:
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Department of Animal Husbandry, Kamýcká 129, 165 21 Prague 6 – Suchdol, Czech Republic.
E. Kubovičová
Affiliation:
National Agricultural and Food Centre, Research Institute of Animal Production Nitra, 951 41 Lužianky near Nitra, Slovak Republic.
Z. Hegedüšová
Affiliation:
Institute for Cattle Breeding Ltd. Rapotin, Vyzkumniku 267, 788 13 Vikyrovice, Czech Republic.
R. Holásek
Affiliation:
Institute for Cattle Breeding Ltd. Rapotin, Vyzkumniku 267, 788 13 Vikyrovice, Czech Republic.
F. Louda
Affiliation:
Institute for Cattle Breeding Ltd. Rapotin, Vyzkumniku 267, 788 13 Vikyrovice, Czech Republic.
J. Beran
Affiliation:
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Department of Animal Husbandry, Kamýcká 129, 165 21 Prague 6 – Suchdol, Czech Republic.
M. Nejdlová
Affiliation:
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Department of Animal Husbandry, Kamýcká 129, 165 21 Prague 6 – Suchdol, Czech Republic.
*
All correspondence to: Alexander V. Makarevich. Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra, Hlohovecká 2, 951 41 Lužianky near Nitra, Slovak Republic. Tel: +421 37 6546 334. E-mail:makarevic@cvzv.sk
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Summary

This study examined the impact of cow body condition on the quality of bovine preimplantation embryos. The embryos (n = 107) were flushed from dairy cows and classified according to a five-point scale body condition score (BCS2 n = 17; BCS3 n = 31; BCS4 n = 11) on the 7th day after insemination and then analyzed for development, dead cell index (DCI), cell number and actin cytoskeleton quality. The highest embryo recovery rate (P < 0.05) was recorded in the BCS3 group and the lowest in the BCS4 group. More transferable (morula, blastocyst) embryos were obtained from the BCS4 cows (79%), compared with the BCS2 (64%) or BCS3 (63%) animals. However, cell numbers were higher in the BCS2 and BCS3 groups (P < 0.05) compared with the BCS4 embryos. Conversely, the DCI was lowest in the BCS2 (3.88%; P < 0.05) and highest in the BCS4 (6.56%) embryos. The proportion of embryos with the best actin quality (grade I) was higher in the BCS2 and BCS3 cows compared with the BCS4 group. Almost 25% of all embryos showed fragmented morphology and a higher DCI (5.65%) than normal morulas (1.76%). More fragmented embryos were revealed in the BCS2 (28.6%) and BCS4 (31.25%) groups, and less (19.15%) in the BCS3 group. The cell numbers in such embryos were lower in the BCS4 (22.57) than in the BCS2 (46.25) or BCS3 (42.4) groups. In conclusion, the body condition of dairy cows affects the quality of preimplantation embryos. A BCS over 3.0 resulted in a higher incidence of poor (fragmented) embryos.

Keywords

Body condition scoreCowEmbryo quality
Type
Research Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , June 2016 , pp. 378 - 388
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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